I decided to shoot photos of all the steps so you would be convinced to pick up a fresh butternut squash from your grocery store or farmer’s market.

First, you stab it all over with a sharp paring knife. This is the fun part. Keep in mind that if you don’t do this, the steam inside the squash will force it to explode in your microwave – not fun.

Then, you try to fit it in your microwave. This squash is about 3 pounds and it fit into my wee little microwave. You can cut the squash into chunks if it doesn’t fit as a whole squash.

Turn it on for five minutes and check to see if you have softened it. It took my lame microwave 15 minutes to soften the butternut squash enough to prepare it.

Peeling should be easy now! The squash is soft and it also should be easy to pull out all of the seeds.

Because the seeds and the strings attached were softened by cooking, it was easy to spoon it out.

Finally, the softening allows you to cut it into chunks in a flash. The squash next to the peel will be a little bit softer and this whole preparation process is a bit messy BUT I had about 3 pounds of cubed squash when I finished.

This cost me a fraction of what it would have cost if I had bought the squash pre-cut. You can now freeze the squash for later use.

7 Comments:

This is brilliant! [Couldn't help but remember how I ended up in the ER with a near loss of my left index fingertip cutting a hard squash, can still see scar.] And then you threw in ''you can now freeze the squash''! My favorite thing is freezing and not wasting food. I'm looking forward to having BN all ready for an impulse recipe instead of staring at that gourd on my counter usually for weeks. :)

BarbLon September 17, 2016

I rinse it off and put it whole on a cookie sheet in the oven at 375 degrees for an hour. I usually also bake a few beets (wrapped in foil), a couple of yams (wrapped in foil), or maybe a meatloaf or something while I have the oven on.

Sueon September 17, 2016

This came at just the right time. I bought a big beautiful butternut squash at the Farmer's market last week and had planned to roast it up tomorrow. However, as soon as I read this post, I decided to get it out of the way. I poked it all over, placed it in the microwave for 10 minutes (rotated it about every 3 minutes), and then let it rest for a few minutes. Watch out when you're handling it once heated, the skin and stem can get really hot. A word of caution, I found the ends get done a lot faster than the middle section. I didn't put it I the microwave for more time because I wanted it to still be a little firm. However, it was still so much easier than trying to cut it completely raw. I diced it into about 1" cubes, placed the pieces in storage bags, and into the freezer. No sore hands and now I'm ready to roast the pieces to make my butternut squash soup or use the pieces as a side dish. Thanks so much for this time saver!

Debraon September 17, 2016

I am always so afraid of the chance I could cut myself with the hard butternut squash, I have always wimped out and bought the 'already cubed' squash. Thanks for the great idea, this is sure to be a money saver!

what a great idea. can't wait to try it. i love butternut squash. now to figure out a way to attack spaghetti squash. LOL!!!!!! i don't get to cook very often but when i do you are the go to person for recipes and real ideas that are doable.Judy

Judith A Youngon October 10, 2016

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Hi, I'm Snack Girl and my website is devoted to making eating well fun. I create recipes, review food, and talk a lot about how to best journey down the healthy road.